1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to financial transactions and more particularly to funding on-line accounts.
2. Related Art
With the ever-increasing popularity of the Internet and of Internet commerce, both consumers and sellers are using the Internet to facilitate financial transactions between buyers and sellers. One typical method is with a credit card. Another method is through the use of a bank or debit card. With both methods, a buyer enters specific information about the credit or bank card and the buyer, which allows the credit card company or bank to authenticate and authorize the on-line transaction. Thus, a consumer can easily purchase goods and services on-line without having to mail or personally deliver payment to the seller. In on-line financial transactions, customers may use third-party payment service providers to pay for products and services through electronic communications with on-line merchants over electronic networks, such as the Internet.
However, such methods and systems typically require the consumer to have a credit card or bank account. There may be large parts of the world where consumers do not have either. For credit cards, many may not qualify for a credit card for several reasons, such as no established credit or bad credit. For bank accounts, many may not trust banking or financial institutions, especially with banks defaulting. There may also be segments of the population that do not want their private information shared, which would be required when opening up a credit card or bank account, especially if those accounts are being used for on-line payments. Furthermore, there may be undeveloped areas where banks simply are not available. Thus, without a credit card or bank account, a large portion of the consumer market may not be able to participate in on-line transactions, which is disadvantageous to both consumers and sellers. For consumers, they are precluded from the many advantages of on-line purchases, such as convenience. For sellers, they lose a potentially large market of consumers for their goods and services.